Discussion
35 years too late for me, I'm afraid.
I bought one for the princely sum of £35 solely for its reconditioned starter motor which found a home in my 127 1050CL. It didn't have an MOT but yielded £40 of car tax rebate plus a few bits and pieces alongside the starter motor before being sold for £20 or so for scrap.
I bought one for the princely sum of £35 solely for its reconditioned starter motor which found a home in my 127 1050CL. It didn't have an MOT but yielded £40 of car tax rebate plus a few bits and pieces alongside the starter motor before being sold for £20 or so for scrap.
Agreed a car with much more brio than its staid contempories, but with built in self-lightening bodywork. (Well according to the road tests & performance figures - never drove one.
Looking at the DfT stats a surprising number are still with us (which probably indicates what owners think of them). Number currently taxed for the roads:
128 - 23
128 3P - 13
128 C - 3
128 CL - 3
128 RALLY - 7
128 SPC 1300 - 2
Currently SORNed:
128 - 17
128 3P - 8
128 C - 0
128 CL - 10
128 RALLY - 0
128 SPC 1300 - 5
My Jetta GTI 16V is rarer than that!
Looking at the DfT stats a surprising number are still with us (which probably indicates what owners think of them). Number currently taxed for the roads:
128 - 23
128 3P - 13
128 C - 3
128 CL - 3
128 RALLY - 7
128 SPC 1300 - 2
Currently SORNed:
128 - 17
128 3P - 8
128 C - 0
128 CL - 10
128 RALLY - 0
128 SPC 1300 - 5
My Jetta GTI 16V is rarer than that!
Happy days!
KYK 415K - my first car, a 1971 Fiat 128 1100 2 door in blue
For the time an advanced car, but by the time I had it in '79 the rust was rampant. It taught me a lot about Italian electrics, Isopon and fibreglass (and understeer...). Of course I wished it was the Rallye version, so off came the bumpers and on went second hand Cibies plus a tacho and steering wheel from John Brown Wheels in Croydon. Also in the late 70s a car (any car) meant freedom for a 17 yr old in a way that is hard to explain today. All I have left of it is the grille badge !
It certainly started something and led on to other Fiats, Alfas, a Ferrari and many Italian bikes.
KYK 415K - my first car, a 1971 Fiat 128 1100 2 door in blue
For the time an advanced car, but by the time I had it in '79 the rust was rampant. It taught me a lot about Italian electrics, Isopon and fibreglass (and understeer...). Of course I wished it was the Rallye version, so off came the bumpers and on went second hand Cibies plus a tacho and steering wheel from John Brown Wheels in Croydon. Also in the late 70s a car (any car) meant freedom for a 17 yr old in a way that is hard to explain today. All I have left of it is the grille badge !
It certainly started something and led on to other Fiats, Alfas, a Ferrari and many Italian bikes.
mac96 said:
If they were anything like the 124 Sport Coupe I owned back in the day, all that's likely to be left is the keys, the manual, and a small pile of red dust. Shame, because fun little cars.
Here is a living and breathing Fiat 124 Sport Coupe that hangs out in my barn and goes out driving every so often. Many did rust, and others were cannibalised to save 124 Spiders, but a few live on.
Wife had a P-reg white 4-door we bought when it was 2-1/2 years old. MDD 128 P?
Roomy & decent size boot for the car's size. OK to drive apart from poor brakes & had poor quality seat covering.
A few years after we sold it we saw it, minus its wheels, on the back of a truck. On the way to be scrapped?
Roomy & decent size boot for the car's size. OK to drive apart from poor brakes & had poor quality seat covering.
A few years after we sold it we saw it, minus its wheels, on the back of a truck. On the way to be scrapped?
Breadvan72 said:
Here is a living and breathing Fiat 124 Sport Coupe that hangs out in my barn and goes out driving every so often. Many did rust, and others were cannibalised to save 124 Spiders, but a few live on.
Very nice - a much underrated car. Personally I find the Mk 1 more attractive than the Mk 2, but I guess that beggars cannot be choosers as there are so few UK examples left!My father saved up to buy one of these in the early 1970s, before opting to buy a Peugeot 504 instead.
Car_Nut said:
Breadvan72 said:
Here is a living and breathing Fiat 124 Sport Coupe that hangs out in my barn and goes out driving every so often. Many did rust, and others were cannibalised to save 124 Spiders, but a few live on.
Very nice - a much underrated car. Personally I find the Mk 1 more attractive than the Mk 2, but I guess that beggars cannot be choosers as there are so few UK examples left!My father saved up to buy one of these in the early 1970s, before opting to buy a Peugeot 504 instead.
Deets here
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
davidgt4 said:
Happy days!
KYK 415K - my first car, a 1971 Fiat 128 1100 2 door in blue
For the time an advanced car, but by the time I had it in '79 the rust was rampant. It taught me a lot about Italian electrics, Isopon and fibreglass (and understeer...). Of course I wished it was the Rallye version, so off came the bumpers and on went second hand Cibies plus a tacho and steering wheel from John Brown Wheels in Croydon. Also in the late 70s a car (any car) meant freedom for a 17 yr old in a way that is hard to explain today. All I have left of it is the grille badge !
It certainly started something and led on to other Fiats, Alfas, a Ferrari and many Italian bikes.
That's almost exactly my experience, 1974 4 door in blue. Got it 1980. Yours must have had premio steel, mine was on its second set of wings and drivers door by 6 years. As for the electrics, eek. Wasn't helped by the haynes manual wiring diagram being in Italian and only having a vague resemblance to the car. KYK 415K - my first car, a 1971 Fiat 128 1100 2 door in blue
For the time an advanced car, but by the time I had it in '79 the rust was rampant. It taught me a lot about Italian electrics, Isopon and fibreglass (and understeer...). Of course I wished it was the Rallye version, so off came the bumpers and on went second hand Cibies plus a tacho and steering wheel from John Brown Wheels in Croydon. Also in the late 70s a car (any car) meant freedom for a 17 yr old in a way that is hard to explain today. All I have left of it is the grille badge !
It certainly started something and led on to other Fiats, Alfas, a Ferrari and many Italian bikes.
Mine also acquired a halfords tacho (wildly inaccurate from the lack of electric suppression) and lucas spotlights, cos it was faster with them.
Became local Subject Matter Expert on Isopon, Trustran 23, pop riveting and the correct beer can to use for structural repairs. Newspaper and gauze for cosmetic ones.
Suspect if I drove one now the bubble would burst and memories be ruined. But it was freedom.
Bone Rat said:
davidgt4 said:
Happy days!
KYK 415K - my first car, a 1971 Fiat 128 1100 2 door in blue
For the time an advanced car, but by the time I had it in '79 the rust was rampant. It taught me a lot about Italian electrics, Isopon and fibreglass (and understeer...). Of course I wished it was the Rallye version, so off came the bumpers and on went second hand Cibies plus a tacho and steering wheel from John Brown Wheels in Croydon. Also in the late 70s a car (any car) meant freedom for a 17 yr old in a way that is hard to explain today. All I have left of it is the grille badge !
It certainly started something and led on to other Fiats, Alfas, a Ferrari and many Italian bikes.
That's almost exactly my experience, 1974 4 door in blue. Got it 1980. Yours must have had premio steel, mine was on its second set of wings and drivers door by 6 years. As for the electrics, eek. Wasn't helped by the haynes manual wiring diagram being in Italian and only having a vague resemblance to the car. KYK 415K - my first car, a 1971 Fiat 128 1100 2 door in blue
For the time an advanced car, but by the time I had it in '79 the rust was rampant. It taught me a lot about Italian electrics, Isopon and fibreglass (and understeer...). Of course I wished it was the Rallye version, so off came the bumpers and on went second hand Cibies plus a tacho and steering wheel from John Brown Wheels in Croydon. Also in the late 70s a car (any car) meant freedom for a 17 yr old in a way that is hard to explain today. All I have left of it is the grille badge !
It certainly started something and led on to other Fiats, Alfas, a Ferrari and many Italian bikes.
Mine also acquired a halfords tacho (wildly inaccurate from the lack of electric suppression) and lucas spotlights, cos it was faster with them.
Became local Subject Matter Expert on Isopon, Trustran 23, pop riveting and the correct beer can to use for structural repairs. Newspaper and gauze for cosmetic ones.
Suspect if I drove one now the bubble would burst and memories be ruined. But it was freedom.
And body repairs with newspaper...the nostalgia! Old colleague of mine bought a VW Beetle from our then boss, allegedly in excellent condition. When he stood on the rubber covered running board it came off to reveal many copies of the Yorkshire Post; the dates proved who had done this interesting repair. Team atmosphere subsequently at a bit of a low.
Breadvan72 said:
My apologies - had conflated the Mk 1 & Mk 2 in my mind - senility strikes again! Yours looks lovely - a car with character & flair. But having said that, I am not convinced by the Mk3 re-style - which to my eyes appears like the attempts of a lady of a certain age attempting to appear as she did in her youth, with disastrous results. Think that my father thought the same at the time - it was 1973 before he was ready to buy, although its suitability as a car to take two teenagers in the back to the summer hols which were planned for Italy that year probably also played as much of a part as the re-style...
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